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A short History of the Foundation of the Mormon Church,
based upon personal memories and facts collected by Hartwell Ryder, Hiram Ohio,
at the age of 80 years. [c. 1900 [[actually 1902]] See note on page 6]
Joseph Smith, author and proprietor of the Book of Mormons [sic], was born
is Sharon, vermont, on the 23rd of December, 1805. When Joseph was 10 years of age
his father moved to Palmyra, N.Y., where he lived 4 years. From thence he moved to
Manchester Township, Ontario County, N.Y., whre Joseph lived and worked with his
father on the farm until he was 21 years of age.
He is said to have been a very religious boy, often found in his father's
grove in meditation and prayer. When he was 18 years old, one day while engaged in
prayer he claiemd a light shone about him above the brightness of the noonday
sun, and that an angel of the Lord appeared unto him and told him that he was to be
an instrument in the hands of the Lord to make known the new institutions which God
was about to establish in the world, and that he would find golden plates hidden in
the hills of Manchester.
He commenced digging in the hills, working for three years, but failed to
find the plates. When 21 years of age, while engaged in prayer the Angel of the Lord
brought to him the golden plates written over with Egyptian hieroglyphics and with
them a pair of stone spectacles which were called Urim Shumnim [sic[. By looking through
these the Angel told him he would be able to translate the inscriptions into the
English language. Before he began the translations, he chose eleven men as witnesses
that he had the plates: of these, three were divine witnesses -- Oliver Cowdery,
David Whitmar, and Martin Harris. They claimed that while engaged in prayer the
Angel of the Lord brought them the plates and they saw them, hefted them and saw the
inscriptions, and God told them they were to be true witnesses of these things.
The other eight witnesses all belonged to the two families of Whitmers and Smiths.
They testified that Joe Smith delivered them into their hands and that they saw them,
hefted them, and knew they were true gold plates. These plates were 6 by 8 and made
a book 6 inches thick, held together by 3 rings.
We are indebted to David Witmer for the manner of translation. He says
it was in a small house of two rooms of which Smith occupied one, and Whitmer,
Cowdery and Harris the other. There was a curtain hung at the door between the two
rooms so that they could not see Smith. He would read off a sentence by looking
through the spectacles, translate it and read it to Cowdery who wrote it down.
In this way they spent three years writing the Book of Mormons [sic]. It was delivered at
the printer's office at Palmyra, N.Y., sometime in the winter of 1830, so that in
February the first copy of the Book of Mormons was issued.
The foregoing is the Mormon side of the story. There is another which is perhaps
the more _correct_ one. In Pennsylvania there lived a certain educated Presbyterian
minister, Solomon Spaulding by name, who wrote a novel in which he attempted to show
where the Moundbuilders of this country and South America and the Indians of the West
came from. He laid the scene at the confounding of the language at the Tower of
Babel, from which time a tribe started on a journey through Asia, and falling in
with the Ten Tribes of Israel they traveled together for 1020 years, crossing to
this country through Behring Straits. The first named tribe was the origin of the
Moundbuilders and the Indians the descendants of the Ten Tribes.
After the work was completed he sent it to a printing house in Pittsburgh
and died before the book was published. At that time Sidney Rigdon was an employee
in the Pittsburgh publishing house. After reading the book he got possession of it, [*]
-------
Marginal notes by Dr. Agnes Monroe Smith in red ink.
Note: the Johnston House should read "Johnson House"
[*] Spaulding Manuscript theory, this has been discredited by scholars
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and with Joe Smith formulated the Book of Mormons [sic].
On April 12 [sic], 1830, the first church was organized in Manchester, N.Y.
Soon others were formed in that community. Notice went out that a new religion
was being given and churches sprang up all over the country. In the fall of 1830
two young men, their saddle bags full of Mormon Bibles, came to the house of Sidney
Rigdon, a Disciple minister at Kirtland. Soon they began preaching the Mormon
doctrine at Kirtland, and by winter had a large number of converts. The same fall
Joe Smith came to Kirtland with all the witnesses to the Book of Mormons. A little
later in the fall, Joe Smith and others came to Hiram and began to preach in the
south school house, gaining several converts. Mr. Johnson and wife, living in what
is now the Stephens homestead, and Mrs. Booth with her husband Ezra Booth, a Methodist
preacher of great influence in the community, at this time became members.
In the winter a notice [was given] of a great convention to be held at Kirtland, identical with
the Pentecost recorded in the Book of Acts. Mr. Johnson and wife, of Hiram,
Mr. Booth and wife of Mantua, Dr. Wright of Windham, and Symonds Ryder of Hiram,
went to Kirtland to attend the meeting. I am indebted to my father, Symonds Ryder,
for the account of what took place there.
The meeting began by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Its effects were
different on different persons. Some fell down in a stuper; some spoke in strange
tongues; one became paralyzed and was in such great pain that they became alarmed
until Joe Smith came to the rescue by a revelation that the paralytic was not
under the influence of the Holy Spirit but the spirit of the Devil and that they
must cast it out. So by prayer and the laying on of hands he was restored. One
arose and spoke in a language none could understand. Thinking this to be the Indian
tongue they passed him by. They then began to cure the sick and afflicted.
Mrs. Johnson, of Hiram, was afflicted with the rheumatism so she could not raise
her hands to her head. Some one therefore proposed that she go forward to be cured,
but before she had decided to go Joe Smith came around through the crowd and taking
her by the hand said, "In the name of Jesus Christ I pronounce you whole," and sure
enough her arms were limbered and returning home was able to do her own work for
some time thereafter.
The reason for mentioning this is because I find it to be one of the
greatest miracles of the Mormon Church.
_Miracles._ They claimed to receive power to perform miracles by the laying
on of hands, and young men often went out to preach who claimed to have performed
miracles but none of these could ever be found. Once a young Mormon went from
Hiram to preach at a small town on the Lake Shore, and upon returning to Hiram told
of a wonderful miracle he had performed there. Jason Ryder, doubting this, went on
horseback to the place and found that the people knew nothing about it. They often
tried to perform miracles which failed. A noted instance of this is the attempt by
Joe Smith to walk on the water.
(A friend reminded me of this instance while in conversation a short time
ago.) At Chagrin Falls, having given out notice that he would walk on the water on
a certain day, he had some chestnut slabs, supported on long legs, laid across the
Chagrin River just a few inches under the water. On the night before the miracle
was to be performed, some boys who knew about the slabs removed one in the middle
of the stream. When Smith fell in, they went in after him but told him that if the
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Angel of the Lord was helping him they would leave him alone, but if it was Joe Smith
alone they would help him. he said he was alone and begged them to help him.
When he began to walk, the people became excited and he bagan to walk faster, and
when he came to the end of the slabs, in he went, and when he arose to the top he
called for help.
To young misisonaries called on me last summer (1901) with whom
I spent some time in conversation. The subject turned on moracles and I asked them
if they could raise the dead. They said they could and could cure the blind
and heal all manner of diseases. Saying also, "you ought to know for there was a
noted miracle performed here," and cited the case of Mrs. Johnson. I told them I
remembered of a greater miracle than that which took place here, and told them of
my grandmother, a woman of 80 years, who lived just across the street and who had been
confined in her bed some time with rheumatism. One day upon hearing that my mother
was sick, jumped out of bed, dressed and was half way across the street before she
thought of her rheumatism. She felt for it but it was gone.
------
Their manner of baptism was by immersion, after which they knelt on the
banks of the stream, when the Administrator laid his hands on their heads and they
received supernatural powers, except the power of prophecy which could only come by
the use of the Seer's Stone or Urim Shumnim [sic]. As an example of the use of the Seer's
Stone to fortell the future, the following instance might be cited. Oliver Cowdery,
one of the witnesses, had one of these which after his death went to his daughter.
During the Rebellion, on the eve of a skirmish between the Regulars and Bushwhackers,
in Missouri, after looking through the Seer's Stone, she predicted that her cousin,
John Page, would be killed on the following day by the Bushwhackers.
------
In the fall of 1831 the church in Hiram became very large. In June,
preceding, my father, Symonds Ryder, united with them, and soon Smith had another
revelation, that he was to act as Elder of the Hiram Church, but in spelling his name
the Lord made a mistake and he began to doubt. [*] A little later in the fall, Smith had
a revelation that 12 men must go from Hiram to Independence, Jackson Co., Missouri.
Mr. Booth said they were anything but honest men and he began to doubt. Besides the
laying of the corner stone was so foolish that he lost all faith and returned. While
they were gone, those left behind found the papers of the church and among them was
a revelation that all who had property should give it over into the hands of Smith
for the good of the Hiram Church. When Mr. Booth returned from Missouri, he called on
my father and after talking together they began to undo what they had done in the way
of influencing people to join the Mormons. In a short time there were only a few
professed followers of the Mormon religion left in Hiram. These, however, still continued
their meetings at the Johnson house.
They had already had notice that they would be mobbed. Accordingly in a
------------------
[*] The Hiram Christian Church book spells it Rider on occasion! Common differences abounded
in name spelling in those days.
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meeting held at the Johnson house on the 27th of February, 1832, to arrange for a
great day in the following spring. Smith dared anyone to touch a Mormon[,] saying that
anyone who should do so would be stricken by the Lord. But the people did not
believe this, for on the night of the 4th [sic -24th] of March, 1832, a band of 60 men met in
the brickyard belonging to Benjamin Hinckley, on the property now owned by Cyrus
Moore. Dividing into two parties they quietly marched to the Johnson house where
they found Smith sleeping in the back room with his two children who were sick.
Smith was thrown out to those waiting outside who took him into a lot back from the
street where he was introduced to tar and feathers. The others in like manner took
Sidney Rigdon up the street where the "Old Oak" now stands and administered the same
remedy to him.This had the desired effect, for they left Hiram, going to Kirtland
where they remained for a number of years.
The next morning after the leaders were tarred and feathered, my father
went past the Johnson house from which the Mormons came out like bees from a hive
and accused him of being the leader of the mob. At the jubilee Convention at Hiram
in 1900, L. A. Chapman told me that when going to California two years before he had
stopped at Salt Lake City and had attended a meeting at the Tabernacle on Sunday,
that they had been very kind to him and had shown him the Book of Records. In looking
down the index he saw the account of the Tar and Feathering of Joseph Smith and
Sidney Rigdon, at Hiram. In that account Symonds Ryder, a Campbellite preacher, is
given as the leader of the mob and says further that he preached on the following
Sunday in the south school-house and gloried in the fact that he had been an instrument
in the hands of the Lord in driving the Mormons out of the country.
But this account is incorrect, for I can well remember that my father was sick in bed
that night and that from early in the evening he did not leave his bed until late the
next morning.
At Kirtland they established a bank and went into the common stock business,
but all who went into it failed. They became so obnoxious to the people at Kirtland
that they were compelled to leave the place, going to Independence, Jackson Co., Mo.,
where by Divine revelation they were to build a magnificent temple, the plan of which
was to be revealed from on High. The foundation of this temple had been laid long
before. There were evidently soon driven from the State by an armed mob.
At this time there was a great defection in the Mormon church. The witnesses
of the Book of Mormons left them and formed the Whitmer branch of the Church of Jesus Christ.
In 1838 or 1839 they went to Illinois where on the banks of the Mississippi
they built the flourishing city of Noveau [sic - Nauvoo]. In this city Smith was mayor, president of
the church, and commander of the military organizations. In 1843 Smith had a
revelation from God that all who could support more wives than one could have as many
as they could support. This caused a division in the Mormon ranks. In the exposition
of Smith and Rigdon, 16 women went before a magistrate and took oath that they had
been approached by the leaders of the Mormon church to become their spiritual wives.
Foster and Lane [sic - Law], who printed the affidavits of these women, were mobbed and their
printing houses destroyed. They were forced to flee to Carthage, Ill., where they
obtained warrants for the arrest of Joe and Hiram Smith and several others. on the
evening of June 7, 1844, a mob attacked the jail and both Joe and Hiram Smith were
shot dead. The excitement became so great that in 1844-5 they found thet they could
no longer remain in Noveau [sic], and accordingly in a solemn council it was decided to
abandon their homes and to seek some spot in the wilds of the west where they could
worship according to the principles of their religion. Accordingly, in February,
1845, after exchanging such property as they could for animals, wagons and provisions,
a large number of them crossed the Mississippi and started on a journey for Council
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Bluffs. Here they remained for two years. Before they crossed into Iowa, however,
an officer of the state presented himself with a requisite for 500 men to serve in
the Mexican war. This demand, though sudden and unexpected, was promptly complied
with, but the expedition was broken up for that season. Those that remained were
principally old men, women and children, and they prepared to pass the winter in
the wilds of the Indian country. By cutting hay, erecting log and sod huts, and
digging as many caves as times and strength permitted, they were able to pass the
winter; but on account of the severity of the weather and the scant provisions,
many died. Besides, the Indians stole many of their cattle, so that they were
reduced to a very poor condition. In the following April, 1847, the company
consisted of 143 men, 72 wagons, 175 head of horses, oxen and mules, with rations
for six months, agricultural implements and seed grain.
In this condition they once more set out for a home beyond the Rockies.
On the 24th of June they reached the Salt Lake Valley. They consecrated a part of
this, broke it up and planted it. Thus was formed the nucleus of the
Territory of Utah. A short time after the arrival of this company, Salt Lake City
was laid out under the direction of Brigham Young who was accepted as President
of the Mormon Church in 1848.
In the following October a company of three or four thousand, led by
Pres. Young was added to their number. They worked diligently and in a short
time nearly 6000 acres were laid down in crops. They established a provisional
state called "State of the Desert" [sic - Deseret], of which Brigham Young was appointed Governor.
He held this office for three years, at which time this territory was ceded to
the United States by Mexico. He was then appointed Territorial Governor by the
United States, and continued as such from 1850 to 1857.
Copied by Minnie M. Ryder in 1903-4 from the manuscript written by her uncle Hartwell Ryder.
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Brigham Young University Studies - 1970 - Page 528
Sources on the History
of the Mormons in Ohio
1830-38
Located East of the Mississippi
STANLEY B KIMBALL
... The library of Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio has several
manuscripts: (1) A five page typescript, "Short History of the
Foundation of the Mormon Church based on personal memories and facts collected
by Hartwell Ryder, Hiram, Ohio, at the Age of 80 years," copied by Minnie M. Ryder
in 1903-04 from the manuscript written by her uncle Hartwell Ryder. Hartwell was
the son of Symonds Ryder, an apostate enemy of Joseph Smith and the alleged leader
of an anti-Mormon mob at Hiram. The manuscript refers in general to the origin of the
Church and to some early events in Hiram. Perhaps the most important part is the
author's refutation that his father was the leader of the mob which tarred and
feathered Joseph Smith at Hiram during March 1832; "for I can well remember that my
father was sick in bed until late the next morning."
(2) A thirty eight page typescript manuscript an episode
in the thirties by Abraham Garfield son of James A. Garfield
in 1934 this manuscript was written specifically for
Uncle Joe presumably therefore it iiss based on the memories
of his uncle Joseph Rudolph son of Zeb and Arabella Rudolph
of Hiram. It is a well written account of some alleged experiences
of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon when they first came to Hiram.
(3) A twelve page typescript manuscript, "The Mormons in
Portage County 1830-1832," by Gerald V. Stamm dated March
15, 1939 -- an unimportant study based on secondary studies.
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Joseph Heals Woman’s Arm
John Johnson, as well as several others, joined the Church after a miraculous healing of his
wife’s lame arm by the Prophet Joseph Smith. The incident is recounted in the footnotes of the
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Period 1, Vol. 1, by Joseph Smith.
Ezra Booth is mentioned specifically. He was a Methodist preacher of “much more than ordinary
culture, and with strong natural abilities,” who was one converted by the healing of Mrs. Johnson.
-----
"Ezra Booth . . . in company with his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, and some other citizens of
this place [Hiram], visited Smith at his home in Kirtland in 1831. Mrs. Johnson had been
afflicted for some time with a lame arm, and was not at the time of the visit able to lift her
hand to her head. The party visited Smith partly out of curiosity, and partly to see for
themselves what there might be in the new doctrine. During the interview the conversation turned
on the subject of supernatural gifts, such as were conferred in the days of the apostles. Some
one said, 'Here is Mrs. Johnson with a lame arm; has God given any power to men now on the earth
to cure her?' A few moments later, when the conversation had turned in another direction, Smith
rose, and walking across the room, taking Mrs. Johnson by the hand, said in the most solemn and
impressive manner: 'Woman, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I command thee to be whole,' and
immediately left the room. The company were awe-stricken at the infinite presumption of the man,
and the calm assurance with which he spoke. The sudden mental and moral shock -- I know not how
better to explain the well-attested fact -- electrified her rheumatic arm -- Mrs. Johnson at once
lifted it up with ease, and on her return home the next day she was able to do her washing
without difficulty or pain."
http://www.boap.org/LDS/History/HTMLHistory/v1c15history.html
12. Ezra Booth, b. 1792, Conn. Removed to Nelson, Ohio, by 1819. M. Dorcas Taylor March 10, 1819.
Methodist minister. Converted to Church through miraculous healing of Elsa Johnson's arm about
May 1831. Ordained elder before June 1831. Ordained high priest June 3, 1831 by Lyman Wight.
Appointed to travel to Missouri with Isaac Morley June 1831. Attended Church conference in Jackson
County, Missouri August 4, 1831. Directed to purchase canoes for Ohio elders returning to East.
Arrived in Ohio by September 1, 1831. Mission to Missouri; there became disillusioned and lost
faith in Joseph Smith's divine calling. Fellowship withdrawn September 6, 1831. Chastised
September 11, 1831, for evil actions. Officially denounced Mormonism September 12, 1831.
Considered first Mormon apostate to publish anti-Mormon literature. Authored nine letters against
Church; published them in Ohio Star (October-December 1831). Residing in Mantua, Portage County,
Ohio, 1860; owned farm.[RJS, 72.]
One account of Booth's conversion was given in A. S. Hayden's Early History of the Disciples (1876):
"Ezra Booth, of Mantua, a Methodist preacher of much more than ordinary culture, and with strong
natural abilities, in company with his wife, Mr. And Mrs. (John) Johnson, and some other citizens of
this place [Hiram, Ohio], visited Smith at his home in Kirtland, in [May] 1831. Mrs. Johnson had been
afflicted for some time with a lame arm, and was not at the time of the visit able to lift her
hand to her head. The party visited Smith partly out of curiosity, and partly to see for
themselves what there might be in the new doctrine. During the interview, the conversation turned
on the subject of supernatural gifts, such as were conferred in the days of the apostles. Some
one said, "Here is Mrs. Johnson with a lame arm; has God given any power to men now on the earth
to cure her?" A few moments later, when the conversation had turned in another direction, Smith
rose, and walking across the room, taking Mrs. Johnson by the hand, said in the most solemn and
impressive manner: 'Woman, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command thee to be whole,' and
immediately left the room. "The company were awe-stricken at the infinite presumption of the man,
and the calm assurance with which he spoke. The sudden mental and moral shock -- [I] know not how
better to explain the well attested fact -- ............................ Mrs. Johnson at once
lifted it up with ease, and on here return home the next day she was able to do her washing
without difficulty or pain."
[Account of B. A. Hinsdale, president of Hiram (Ohio) college, given at funeral sermon of Simonds
Ryder, 1870]
============ added ================
http://saintswithouthalos.com/b/johnson_j.phtml
http://saintswithouthalos.com/b/johnson_lsh.phtml#hiram
http://www.olivercowdery.com/smithhome/1880s-1890s/1882Erly.htm#pg79a
http://saintswithouthalos.com/n/heal.phtml#elsa
Philo Dibble account
When Joseph came to Kirtland his fame spread far and wide. There was a woman living in the town
of Hiram, forty miles from Kirtland, who had a crooked arm, which she had not been able to use
for a long period. She persuaded her husband, whose name was Johnson, to take her to Kirtland to
get her arm healed.
I saw them as they passed my house on their way. She went to Joseph and requested him to heal her.
Joseph asked her if she believed the Lord was able to make him an instrument in healing her arm.
She said she believed the Lord was able to heal her arm.
Joseph put her off till the next morning, when he met her at Brother Whitney's house. There were
eight persons present, one a Methodist preacher, and one a doctor. Joseph took her by the hand,
prayed in silence a moment, pronounced her arm whole, in the name of Jesus Christ, and turned and
left the room.
The preacher asked her if her arm was whole, and she straightened it out and replied: "It is as
good as the other." The question was then asked if it would remain whole. Joseph hearing this,
answered and said: "It is as good as the other, and as liable to accident as the other."
The doctor who witnessed this miracle came to my house the next morning and related the circumstance
to me. He attempted to account for it by his false philosophy, saying that Joseph took her by the
hand, and seemed to be in prayer, and pronounced her arm whole in the name of Jesus Christ, which
excited her and started perspiration, and that relaxed the cords of her arm.
Luke S. Johnson account
Soon after Joseph Smith moved from the state of New York, my father, mother and Ezra Booth,
a Methodist Minister, went to Kirtland to investigate "Mormonism."
My mother had been laboring under an attack of chronic rheumatism in the shoulder, so that she
could not raise her hand to her head for about two years; the prophet laid hands upon her, and she
was healed immediately.
My father was satisfied in regard to the truth of "Mormonism," and was baptized by Joseph Smith,
Jr., in the winter of 1830–1
Marinda Johnson Hyde account
In the winter of 1831, Ezra Booth, a Methodist minister, procured a copy of the Book of Mormon
and brought it to my father's house. They sat up all night reading it, and were very much
exercised [404] over it. As soon as they heard that Joseph Smith had arrived in Kirtland, Mr. Booth
and wife and my father and mother went immediately to see him. They were convinced and baptized
before they returned. They invited the prophet and Elder Rigdon to accompany them home, which they
did, and preached several times to crowded congregations baptizing quite a number. I was baptized
in April following.
=======================================
In 1864 George A. Smith found it "singular" that Ezra joined the church through "through the
manifestation of a miracle. "